35 FAQ Questions about Thailand and Asia

If you’re part of my email list, I shot out a few emails asking my readers to send me a question they’d like answering.

Here’s what they asked.

How do I make an income big enough so I can live a wonderful life out there?

By working hard and smart.

I don’t want to go into many bars to find a girl for one or two days in Manila, Makati. The same question for Cebu for four or five days. Where can I pick up pretty girls quickly?

If you want to pick up a pretty girl quickly, the best way is to pay an escort if you do not want to visit many go go bars. The cost of an escort is 3-6x more expensive than other options, but hey that is the price you pay for wanting things quick.

Asia isn’t one big factory churning out hot girls that you can pick up out of a vending machine by having money.

Unless your idea of pretty means someone cute and fun and not a 9/10 with no pointy elbows, in which case you’ll find them in every bar.

Hi I want know where is the most amazing most strange place in Pattaya?

I don’t know, but check the comments in 3 days.

I wanted to know if there are any other places out there in Asia which is similar to Bangkok, budget wise and entertainment wise?

Manila is the closest city in Asia to that matches Bangkok in cost and entertainment.

Your trip in Manila would be 20% more expensive than Bangkok but there’s a ton of nice places to eat and bars and clubs to visit. Girls also have good English.

Ho Chi Minh is kind of cool but MUCH smaller than Bangkok and Manila and feels a lot more like poverty.

I want to travel to Thailand for tourism for two weeks. There I want to meet with a girl who is friendly to me throughout my stay. They accompany me day and night all time, and I bear all the expenses and bought her gifts at the end of my trip and also give her a cash reward. I do not want her from night bars, I mean I want a girl who likes to enjoy and spend beautiful times with me, the goal is not just sex. How can I get such a girl?

You should read my article The Holiday Girlfriend, this was written for people like you.

Related: looking to get big in Thailand? Then click here to read my guide on buying steroids in Thailand.

I want to date a young college/university girls from Thailand, but I am 55 years -is there a chance? I plan to visit Thailand shortly.

99% of 55 year old man will not be able to date uni girls in Thailand organically.

You’ll be able to date 30+ with no problems, but almost no chance at 18-21 unless you want to reenact Richard Gere’s performance in Pretty Women.

What is best girly bar in Manila I tried to go to High Heels but they took me to a vacant block and said it was there?

I personally like XOXO which is also called Kojack depending on the day.

What kind of work I can do there?

If you’re from a first world country and want to live in South East Asia, the only job you really what is to work for yourself.

I would never advise coming to Asia to find a job unless you move to Singapore or Hong Kong.

Most jobs suck, pay poorly and there’s almost no chance of moving up.

Asia is a place to come with money or an online business and live cheaply. It’s not a place to come looking for work.

On tours from BKK to Ayutthaya is it better to to take private transportation there by and find a guide or book one from here, any you can recommend?

The first normal question.

I would take the train, it’s a cool experience and cheap. When you’re there they will be tour guides who will show you around. Make sure they have the official paperwork and hire them, they are good.

Nobody to recommend sorry.

Do you have good Thai times and bad Thai times, that is, periods when you get fed up with living here and periods when you would not want to be anywhere else? How long are these periods of time and what incidents cause them?

Yes, there are periods of bad times and periods of good times.

I would say almost everybody who lives in Thailand for 3 or more years goes through a bad time, for some it doesn’t last long for others it becomes their lives.

Thailand is a paradise but it can also be your worst nightmare.

I would even go as far to say for men, the good times are some of the best in your life, and the bad times are some of the worst in your life too.

People with bad habits usually have the worst times for longest.

What are the biggest no no’s?

Drugs. Don’t do them. Ever.

I would like to know about Udon Thani, what can you tell me about this place?

Udon Thani is what Thailand was 20-30 years ago.

Everything is cheap.

The people are friendly.

It’s quite a small place, not so many people speak English and it can get quite boring if you always need things to do. If you like the simple like then Udon is a great place. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say a bad thing about that place.

Is it worth it to invest 3 million bahts in an off plan condo in On Nut? Do you feel the real estate sector is gone crazy on prices?

Before you even invest ask yourself if you plan to live in Thailand for a long time to manage your property. If I were to consider buying an apartment in On Nut, it would need to meet all these requirements.

• Investment to be 10% or less of my net worth
• Apartment to be 65sq or bigger (I don’t want to buy a small condo, as I don’t like living in small places)
• I considerd Thailand a base for me during the next 10 years
• Property be 100% in my name

Do I feel the real estate sector is going crazy? Property prices all over the world are going up, I cannot predict where they will go next.

Personally I would not buy new projects in Thailand, most of the build quality nowadays is shoddy.

Do you have any idea if the girls on massage salons are having fix salary or work on commission base? The normal salon massage not with any extras!

The normal places usually receive a low fixed salary (6k-10k) then receive 50% of profits of each massage they give and 100% of their tips.

Are there podiatrists in Vietnam?

Yes. You can find them on Google or by going to any private hospital there.

You have been writing about making money on freelance work in Thailand, but what other type of work is there for expats?

There’s not a lot of jobs going to be honest unless you want to teach English which I don’t advise.

Which is the biggest river in Asia?

Yangtze in Asia, Mekong in South East Asia.

I would like to know about the northern areas of Thailand. How about the stay in Nakhon Phanom? Is it secure to stay there in hotels. What about the site seeing there? Is it worth to visit there for a week in turns of sceneries and other attractions. I have to stay there with a girl friend who is belongs to Sakon Nakhon.

I would say most of Thailand is safe, you can rock up to any semi-decent looking hotel and almost never can expect to get robbed if you use common sense.

If you’re worried about being robbed, pay a few dollars more and get a room with a safe. In my entire 7 years of living in Asia, I’ve never been robbed from a hotel. There was one case where I was missing $5 in a hotel in Vietnam, but I cannot be sure if I spent it or not.

Nakhon Phanom is a small quiet place. If you like quiet towns and don’t mind taking things very slow, it’s a great place. If you plan to party a few times a week then this is not the location for you.

Nakhon Phanom will give you more of a flavour of traditional Thailand.

How about B2B massages in Laos?

There’s not a hell of a lot going on there, they exist but they won’t be easy to find. Make local friends and eventually they’ll tell you if you keep asking.

Where else (outside of asia) have you considered staying? I  stayed in BKKin 2 periods in the late 90s / early 2000s totalling about 3.5 years – what strikes me is very few people stay in Thailand for more than a few years (you’re doing well on that score).

I guess that’s because the culture is so alien (hierarchy based on $ seniority which retards it significantly) and we’re never accepted – we’re an exotic oddity at best – I reckon this applies all over Asia. Also, as I guess you’re aware, this results in a very transitory social life and more alienation.

There is no real use for farang in Asia and/or they never let us have access to their economy so we’re marginalised (to English teaching, the grey digital gonad area or crime).

I’d like to come back but can’t envision a long stay there because we’re always very vulnerable to the whims of the law there and coming home ain’t easy – especially as u get older (less sofas to stay on (and people resent u and subtly make u pay for splitting from the herd).

Other places I’ve considered staying are Japan. Hungry. Spain. UK (London). Czech Republic.

Yes you’re right Thailand is not ideal to live here long-term, I wrote an article why you should leave Bangkok in your 30s that touches on some of your points.

I don’t see myself living in Thailand forever. I think in a few years I’ll visit 3-6 months of the year during the cold season in Europe.

I’m going Pattaya for Christmas, is it a good place to hang out and meet girls?

If you’re okay spend money, yes it’s the best place in Thailand to do that.

I’ve read your blog with interest, keep up the good work. I was wondering if you could give me a hand. I also work online and have been travelling all over the place the last few years so its pretty complicated being a tax resident in any particular country. I’ve decided as I’m here for more than 6 months a year to get some kind of Thai tax number just to tick a box really, as its near on impossible trying to explain being a digital nomad here.

Did the Bangkok helper girl do it pretty quick? Any good accountants you use for yearly returns?

I also read that if you move cash from the previous financial year its not liable for tax, fuck knows how they calculate that if you have savings.

Any advice is massively welcome as its mind boggling over here trying to explain self employment or similar.

Bangkok Helper can do this, they helped me with mine and I’ve had no issues. I don’t know any good accountants.

Any money you bring into Thailand will need to be declared and you’ll need to show an invoice of when you received it.

If the date says 2017 and the year is 2018, you can bring that into the country tax free. However you’ll need to check if your country has a double tax treaty with Thailand first, and whether having a TIN and paying tax in Thailand qualifies within the double tax treaty agreement.

You have been writing about making money on freelance work in Thailand, but what other type of work do You recommend for expats?

Anything that requires you to use a laptop or phone to run the business.

First trip in two weeks. Where would you recommend going? I like eater and beaches.

Easy.

Spend 3-4 days in Bangkok (best street food in Thailand ), then choose Phuket if you want to party, or Krabi if you want to budget and don’t fancy partying so much.

What is the best travel app for smart phones?

My favourite app is XE.com.

It’s a conversion rate app that shows you the rates in all countries. This is useful for me as I’ll often travel and it’s good to know what the rate is to ensure I am not being ripped off a lot.

Just want to know if I can just come there with family from India for a year or two. Life has become a problem here bcos of too many money commitments. I will be able to solve all this but I need time because we do have certain properties we can sell. My question is that I am a simple person and my family too. I just need to be where I can’t be connected on a daily basis.

I would appreciate your answer as a question from a anonymous person. I have aged parents. 90 and 83 and 2 son’s 21 and 19 with my wife aged 47 I am 51.

You won’t get a permanent visa in Thailand for you or your family.

How much really Cambodia is (in)secure? Is violent mugging usual in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh?

When I went to both places it was a very safe place if you use common sense.

At night if you get drunk you may increase your chances of being robbed. From my experiences, South East Asia is VERY SAFE if you use common sense. Robberies in major areas are not much higher than the major cities like London or New York.

Health care plan for farang, which is best to buy?

That really depends on your age and what you would like to be covered for. I’ll often get cover outside of Thailand but I’m from the UK and health insurance is a lot cheaper than other countries.

Bupa Thailand is a good place to start, they aren’t the best value but easiest to understand and contact. A few banks also provide insurance if you take the right bank account, but be careful as some are pretty crappy and cover nothing.

Philippines or Thailand your opinion?

Thailand cost of living is cheaper, the country is better located for travel and Thai food is 100% better.

Are there any Catholic Ladies in Thailand That you know of to be Friends?

There are churches in Thailand you best bet is to find Catholic churches and go there (hint they are on Google).

When travelling to Thailand, if you pay somebody for a week or longer and have them STD tested prior. What’s the risk at that point from just non protective sex while there with you? And by the way that’s from the stand point I’ve had a vasectomy and not worried about kids.

Risk would be low but not zero or even close to it. Read my blog on what do if you get an STD in Thailand.

Hi Harvie, I’m going to Pattaya on 17th September, does that make me a sex tourist?

The definition of a sex tourist is someone who visits a country specifically for sex.

My question to you, why does it matter? Own it mate.

I am 49yrs old single unmarried South African qualified accountant with no family, what is the cheapest way for me to be able to legally come to live in THAILAND with residence status without getting married?

Thailand Elite Visa, it costs 500,000b for 5 years. Bangkok Helper can help.

There are many places you can go to meet young girls. But what about older women? Is there a place to meet much older women? say 40+ or 50+?

Lots of older women are on Thai Cupid.

They are harder to meet in bars and clubs because once a women is a past a certain age they don’t visit bars or clubs because they feel out of place when there’s a dozen of so young girls on the table next to them.

What’s unique about Asian girls? What does it take for a black guy like me to get one?

I’d say they are more feminism and women-like than the west. Think of what a women would do in the 60-70s, they are kind of like that.

As for being black, I wrote a guide for Black people in Thailand here.